Fact-Checking

In a world where you’re constantly pressured to cite your sources, check your facts, and maintain good journalistic principles (even when you’re not getting paid for it), it is one of the nicest things ever to just ask somebody a question you could have Googled.

It’s a lost art–having normal conversations. I miss getting to enjoy someone else’s expertise. I miss feeling settled and comfortable in not having to know everything. I miss getting to plug an untested thought into a conversation and getting a response back–where you get to learn something the natural way. Or where you trigger an interesting debate. Where assumptions can be vocalized, countered, and checked among friends, rather than in isolation.

I think it’s good to release ourselves from the need to prove, to come prepared. That’s what work is for. That’s what formal writing is for. Let casual conversation be casual–we all need rest.